Lesley Powell

Lesley Powell, CBE, is the Chief Executive Officer of North East Learning Trust (NELT). NELT is one of the largest and most successful trusts in the North East comprising three primary schools and five secondaries with plans for continued growth.

Lesley began her teaching career in 1988 and has worked in a range of schools across the north west and north east of England. She was appointed to her first headship at The Academy at Shotton Hall in 2009, leading the school to two consecutive outstanding judgements from Ofsted.

The Academy was subsequently designated as a Teaching School and National Support School in 2011, established its teacher training arm, Shotton Hall SCITT, in 2013 (judged outstanding in 2016), and was awarded Research School status in 2017.

Lesley has worked with many other schools in the region and beyond as a National Leader of Education. She is also a practising Ofsted inspector and has twice been elected as a member of the Regional Head Teacher Board for the north.

She is a member of the National Secondary Heads Reference Group, the Opportunity North East Sub-Board and the National Ofsted Inspector Reference Group. Lesley recently sat as a member of the DFE expert advisory groups during development of the School Food Plan and more recently the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy.